Reds put run to Tommies
Jeffrey game | UNB wins 5-0 to close in on bye
Somewhere, Mark Jeffrey is flashing that beaming smile.
The former University of New Brunswick Red Devils player and coach, who revelled in the rivalry between UNB and the St. Thomas Tommies back when it was much closer than it is now, would certainly have enjoyed the 20th edition of the Mark Jeffrey Memorial Game at the Aitken University Centre on Wednesday night .
The Varsity Reds cruised to a 5-0 win over the Tommies before 2,766 fans in a game that wasn't really that close.
Veterans Luke Gallant and Kyle Bailey - who both completed their five-year careers at UNB without losing to their cross-campus rivals - each scored goals along with singles off the sticks of rookies Shayne Wiebe and Tyler Carroll, and one from Jordan Clendenning to complete the summary.
Goaltender Travis Fullerton turned aside 14 shots to post the shutout. Tommies goaltender Charles Lavigne made 41 saves, several of the giltedged variety. But it was clear pretty early that, on this night, it wouldn't be enough.
'They outmatched us in all areas of the game ... pretty simple,' was Tommies coach Troy Ryan's succinct synopsis. '(They were a) better team player for player. I didn't prepare my guys as well as they prepared their guys. I take as much responsibility as them. They weren't as good as the opposition and tonight I wasn't as good as the opposition. When you put those two things together, a team like us doesn't have much of a chance of beating a team like them.' In the spirit of the Jeffrey game, or perhaps representative of the stakes involved, there was a bit of a pregame dustup - a minor gathering of the clans at centre ice that saw Clendenning, a good Fredericton boy, engage Kyell Henegan of the Tommies, in a shoving match with four minutes left in the warmup.
It was the kind of scrum that Jeffrey the player would have been right in the middle of.
And it was the kind of game he would have enjoyed.
Gallant - a co-winner of the Jeffrey scholarship along with fellow blueliner Jon Harty - opened the scoring on UNB's third shot of the game, a powerplay shot from the left point that got past Lavigne and put the Tommies behind the eight ball right away. The fact that it came in the Jeffrey game - and on his mom's birthday to boot - made it even more satisfying.
'We all know how important this game is whether you're first year or fifth year,' Gallant said. 'To do it for Mark on this night is extra special. And it's my mom's birthday, and for me and Bails (Bailey) to go undefeated against one team in our league for five years, it's something that's pretty rare. And to do it against our cross-campus rivals ... it's a lot of pride on the line. It's a pretty good feeling.' The Tommies didn't even muster their first shot at Fullerton until Harty went off for knocking over Randy Cameron on a tripping call. Andrew Andicropoulos fired a shot with 11:36 left that was harmlessly turned away by Fullerton - one of four the Tommies managed in the period, even with the benefit of three full power plays.
Shortly thereafter, a clock malfunction showed the score 14-4 Tommies in the third. Er ... no.
In point of fact, the V-Reds made it 2-0, with Carroll finishing off a nice play in the final minute, deking Lavigne with another power-play marker.
The dagger came midway through the second. Lavigne had no chance on a breakaway by Wiebe, who took the quick feed from Carroll, and, showing the form that netted him 44 goals in 72 games with the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings last year, put a rocket glove side under the crossbar at 8:50.
'It was a good heads-up play by Ty to zip me the puck up there,' Wiebe said. 'I just saw the opening and put 'er there. Every game that we play, we're getting a little better.' It could have been even more lopsided had Lavigne been anything less than stellar. Bailey made it 4-0 on a one-timer at 12:13. The Jeffrey factor was a big one beforehand.
'We heard all the stories leading up to the game,' Carroll said. 'I'm not even from here, so coming in, I had no idea who he was. At the start of the week, we heard stories and we heard about the legacy he left here. Just to honour the guy and try to get a win was something we put our minds to and honoured him with a win.' Clendenning scored on UNB's 45th shot to cap the V-Reds' 31st straight victory over St. Thomas, officially eliminating the Tommies from the AUS playoff picture for the fourth straight season.
'I think we probably saw the best UNB team we saw all year,' Ryan said. 'That's a recipe for disaster.'